PRAIRIE
VIEW – Kim Connelly hit three home runs and drove in
eight runs, while Margo Hurdt picked up seven hits in the
Islanders' 15-12 and 11-1 wins over Prairie View A&M.
Connelly's
three home run performance set a school record, while Hurdt's five
hits in the first game set a new Islander record as well. The previous record for homers
in a game was two set by several others, while the record for hits
was four.
In the first
game, Prairie View A&M jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three
innings, scoring three in the first, two in the second and three
more in the third. In the
first inning, the Islanders gave up back-to-back two-out walks
before Christy Uribe hit a three-run blast to take the early
lead.
Walks haunted
the Islanders once again in the second as the Panthers led off the
inning with a walk, followed by a hit by pitch and another walk
before Kesha Hagerman singled in another run. The Islander pitching combination of
Hurdt and Larissa Martin combined for eight walks and gave up 13
hits.
The Panthers
picked up four more singles in the third that resulted in three
runs before the Islanders answered with two runs in the
fourth. Hurdt led off the
inning with a double before Connelly drove her home with her first
homer of the game.
A&M-Corpus Christi finished with a season-high 19 hits in the
first game.
The Islanders
(16-20) exploded with six runs in the fifth to tie the game at
eight. Seven of their 19
hits came in the sixth, including a three-run homer by Hurdt, who
drove in four runs in the opener. Connelly also homered in the inning,
while Lauren Peters and Andrea Simancas doubled.
The scoring
would continue for A&M-Corpus Christi with three more in the
sixth, two off the bat of Connelly with her third homer of the
game. She drove in six
runs, while Hurdt drove in four.
A&M-Corpus
Christi tacked on four more in the seventh off four more hits and
took advantage of two Panther errors.
"We are
battling," head coach Jake Schumann said. We aren't really stopping people right
now, but I am glad we are hitting the ball well enough to win. We didn't give up today which
really says a lot about this team."
In the second
game, the Islanders pounded out 14 more hits while Martin held
Prairie View A&M to just three hits and a lone run in the
fourth. Stephanie Estrada
was 2-for-2 with a home run and three runs batted in, while Amber
Robinson was 2-for-2 with two doubles and three runs scored.
A&M-Corpus
Christi will finally return home this weekend when it hosts UT
Arlington for a three-game series. The two teams will play a double
header Saturday starting at 1 p.m. followed by a single game Sunday
which starts at 1.
